Magic Returning to the Main Street Magic Shop

WDWNT on October 7, 2009

According to the OC Register’s Around Disney blog:

The tricks and magicians are set to return to the classic Main Street Magic Shop at Disneyland next month.

Houdini’s Magic Shop is slated to take over as a private operator of the retail outlet when it re-opens in about a month, but it will keep the same Main Street Magic Shop name, Disney announced this week.

The shop closed Sunday so the store could be remodeled for Houdini’s takeover.

But even before it closed, the shop had lost its magic. Only generic Disney merchandise sat on the shelves in recent months, blogger Sally French reported.

Magic shops have a long tradition in Disneyland.

The first one — Merlin’s Magic Shop — opened near the Sleeping Beauty Castle on the park’s first day in 1955. The Main Street Magic Shop opened two years later. After Merlin’s closed in 1983, the Main Street location remained.

Actor Steve Martin got his start at Merlin’s and briefly worked at the Main Street shop.

While Disneyland has run the Main Street shop since 1965, it was previously run by an outside operator.

Houdini’s was selected because of its strong reputation and the fact that it holds rights to key magic tricks, said David Gill, a Disneyland spokesman. Plus, Houdini’s will employ certified magicians to do tricks for guests inside the shop.

Houdini’s has run shops since 1983 and has locations in 10 spots, including a kiosk at Downtown Disney.

“I’ve had a passion for magic since I was a young boy. I am thrilled to be able to share my enthusiasm with Disney guests from around the globe,” said founder Geno Munari in a prepared statement.

The magic shop employees were moved to other stores during the remodeling.

Exciting New Videos From the WDWNTube

WDWNT on October 5, 2009

When I visited Disneyland on Saturday, I was able to capture video of Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy, Haunted Mansion Holiday, Candy Corn Acres, and The Disney Gallery, all of which are embedded here courtesy of the WDWNTube Disney Parks Video Site:

Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy

Haunted Mansion Holiday

Candy Corn Acres

The Disney Gallery

The Disney Gallery is Now Open!

WDWNT on October 2, 2009

ANAHEIM, Calif. (Oct. 2, 2009) – The Disney Gallery reopens Oct. 2 in its new home near Town Square on Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland. The first art exhibit, “Enchanting the Classics,” will focus on how the artists of Walt Disney Imagineering have kept beloved Disneyland attractions, such as Jungle Cruise, Submarine Voyage and Pirates of the Caribbean, fresh and exciting over the years with enhancements and surprises.

NEW GALLERY LOCATION: The relocated Disney Gallery is now in the former Bank of Main Street. The design maintains elements of the bank – select pieces will be displayed inside the vault – while building on the charming turn-of-the-century atmosphere of Main Street, U.S.A. Kim Irvine, director of Concept & Show Design for Walt Disney Imagineering, Anaheim, notes that the gallery now features an elegant Victorian interior with chandeliers, fancy moldings and hand-woven carpets.

THREE ROOMS: In addition to the bank vault with its special highlighted artwork, The Disney Gallery on Main Street, U.S.A. will feature three large display rooms.

  • One room will feature historic Walt Disney Imagineering conceptual art created during the development and enhancement of attractions.
  • One room will showcase Disney-inspired art by current and former Disney artists and Imagineers.
  • One room will feature prints (including on-the-spot Print on Demand), sculpture, books and other items for sale to guests and collectors.

“It’s great to be able to exhibit the work of our Imagineers and new artists,” Irvine said. “Many of them are still working in traditional media – water color, oils, sculpture – and I think it’s wonderful to showcase all of their talents.”

‘ENCHANTING THE CLASSICS’: The inaugural show in The Disney Gallery will focus on the enhancements that keep classic Disneyland attractions fresh and surprising. Irvine explains: “When we temporarily close one of our popular attractions for refurbishment, our guests expect that there will be some ‘new magic’ added. In the past five years, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, the Enchanted Tiki Room and “it’s a small world” have all undergone planned enhancements, which our guests have really enjoyed.”

UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE DISNEY GALLERY: Two special events for guests and collectors are planned for The Disney Gallery in October. Both are free with park admission.

  • Disney artists and Imagineers whose commissioned work appears in “Enchanting the Classics” will appear in a Disney Gallery signing event on Saturday, Oct. 10.
  • An event showcasing art that celebrates Haunted Mansion Holiday and “Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas” will take place in The Disney Gallery on Saturday, Oct. 17.

‘ART HISTORY’ OF THE DISNEY GALLERY:

  • The Disney Gallery originally opened on July 11, 1987, in the rooms above the entrance to Pirates of the Caribbean.
  • The rooms were originally designed as a private apartment for Walt Disney, who passed away before the work was completed.
  • The first show in The Disney Gallery in 1987 was “The Art of Disneyland.” It featured many one-of-a-kind pieces created in planning Disneyland attractions. Highlights included Herb Ryman’s iconic paintings (created before construction began) of the proposed Sleeping Beauty Castle and a bird’s-eye view of the lands of Disneyland, along with Mary Blair’s concept art for “it’s a small world,” Sam McKim’s ghostly Haunted Mansion exterior and Eyvind Earle’s elegant paintings of scenes for the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough.
  • In the ensuing years, exhibits in The Disney Gallery included concept art for proposed attractions that were never built (“The Disneyland That Never Was”); art, props and costumes from the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction and films; and an offbeat display of illustrations originally created for Little Golden Book versions of classic Disney tales.
  • The Disney Gallery in New Orleans Square closed on Aug. 7, 2007, to make way for the Disneyland Dream Suite, a realization of Walt Disney’s original concept of a private apartment in New Orleans Square.
  • On Main Street, U.S.A. The Disney Gallery will have a new neighbor: President Lincoln. When the refreshed “Disneyland Story featuring Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln” opens in December, guests will be able to enter The Disney Gallery from the lobby of the Main Street Opera House, and vice versa.

Fine Dining Returns to Disney’s California Adventure

WDWNT on October 2, 2009

In news that seemed like a wild rumor, yet is actually true. According to D23:

The Vineyard Room in Disney’s California Adventure re-opens on October 4th to serve culinary delights that feature some of California’s most prestigious dishes.

The Disney Gallery Opens This Friday!

WDWNT on September 30, 2009

From The Art of Disney Parks:

The Disney Gallery will open Friday, October 2nd, 2009 in the former Bank of Main Street Building!

Like most, you’ve probably missed visiting The Disney Gallery on your recent trips to Disneyland® park. Well, good news! the hot-spot for viewing original and one-of-a-kind Disney artwork and artifacts is ready to re-open in the fall at its new location – in the former Bank of Main Street, right next to the Disneyland® Opera House.

This new location offers roughly the same amount of area as the gallery’s previous home above the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction (which is now occupied by the Disneyland® Dream Suite). And, just as before, The Disney Gallery will be made up of three separate rooms – two exhibit rooms and a gift shop. “This will allow us to tell on continuous story, or three separate stories, as we used to in the former gallery,” said Kim Irvine, Walt Disney Imagineering and Art Director for this project. She also told us that the unique qualities of the building have been incorporated into the gallery’s theme: “We’ll maintain the bank look and architecture and visually tell the story that this was an old bank that has been turned into an art gallery.  Guests will still see remnants of the old bank influence – like the vault!”  So be sure to stop in and visit this longtime favorite attraction and store in its new digs.

A huge product release and signing will be held on Saturday, October 10th, 2009:

Join us as we celebrate the opening of The Disney Gallery in its new location on Main Street, U.S.A. with an array of Walt Disney Imagineers and Disney Inspired Artists, including Jim Crouch, Jody Daily, Jeremy Fulton, Kevin Kidney, Larry Nikolai, Maggie Parr, George Scribner, SHAG and Yakovetic. Commissioned artwork by these artists will on display and will be available as part of the product release & signing. The artist signing will take place from 9 AM to 11 AM on Saturday, October 10th, 2009.

Also, a “Nightmare Before Christmas” product release and signing will be held the following Saturday, October 17th, 2009 at The Disney Gallery:

Join us as we celebrate Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and the re-opening of our Haunted Mansion attraction in its “holiday” state. Artists, Dave Avanzino, Brian Sandah and Tim Wollweber will be on hand to sign some of their latest Haunted Mansion Holiday inspired merchandise, including a Haunted Mansion Holiday mixed media sculpture, a Jack Skellington themed mantle piece, changing portrait and stained glass-like sculpture.

Also available as part of the release will be Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: The 13 Days of Christmas book by authors, Steve Davison and Carolyn Gardner. Show Development and Production Senior Writer, Carolyn Gardner along with Tim Wollweber who helped to illustrate some of the book, will be on hand for a special appearance and signing. The artist signing will take place from 9 AM to 11 AM on Saturday, October 17th, 2009.

Everybody Scream!

WDWNT on September 28, 2009

Disney’s new Disney Parks Blog, which launched this morning, has two great videos up providing a quick glimpse at Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy and Halloween Screams:

Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy

Halloween Screams

The OC Register’s Around Disney blog also has a video up about Halloween Screams, featuring an interview with senior show director, John Addis:

Screams in the Sky and in Space

WDWNT on September 25, 2009

Happy Halloween everyone! Today is the first day of Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort, and we have some more pictures and information on the new additions to Halloween Time this year, Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy and Halloween Screams. Firstly, more information on Ghost Galaxy from the OC Register’s Around Disney blog:

Space Mountain visitors will know something’s gone awry right after they begin their ascent in the Disneyland ride.

The climb through a tunnel starts normally with stars drifting past the rocket and a swirling galaxy awaiting at the top. But about half way through the tunnel, white stars turn orange and red, swirling into a skull-like face and skeletal arms extend. Spiny hands grab out, shooting crackling lightning past riders. The creature roars.

This is just the beginning of the new Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy that debuts to the public today at Disneyland.

The seasonal makeover of the roller-coaster marks the first time that Disneyland has redone Space Mountain for Halloween Time, which begins today.

“It’s classic Space Mountain with a whole new look,” said Steve Roach, the ride’s show producer.

Disneyland Resort usually tries to keep the mood light for the Halloween season, but this ride is slightly different.

“For the first time, it’s something actually very frightening for Halloween,” Roach said. “I don’t think we’ve done anything this scary before.”

A sign will warn guests that the ride may be too scary for young children, Roach said.

Ghost Galaxy’s back story is that Disney wants recruits to explore unknown phenomena during a deep-space research trip, but then something goes wrong. Guests are detoured into an unknown galaxy with cosmic phenomena at every turn, Roach said.

Throughout the ride, guests can see morphing ghosts reaching out toward guests. One arm grabs above riders. Another ghost chases riders alongside the carriage. A creepy eye blinks in front. And one final surprise ghost pops out at the very end. (We know because we got to ride it early.)

Roach said upgrades completed on the ride four years ago made it easier for workers to transform the attraction into a Halloween spectacle. With the new additions, workers were able to swap out projection images that go on screens inside the dome. New lighting was added, especially at the entrance and exit.

Also, a sound system was built into every seat with the 2005 upgrades. The new soundtrack of creepy music, wailing and occasional roars was put in for the occasion. It was composed by Ed Kalnins, who also did the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage ride.

About 12 workers, called Imagineers, have been installing the overlay since the ride was temporarily closed about two and a half weeks ago. But workers will be able to turn the ride back to its original form overnight when the Halloween season is over in about five weeks, Roach said.

Ghost Galaxy was originally done at the Hong Kong park in 2007, said Ric Turner, a show designer who also worked on the Hong Kong attraction. There, Imagineers added the features in a short period with low expectations, but it “blew everybody away,” Turner said.

Anaheim’s Ghost Galaxy has more scenes, including the chasing ghosts, he said. Also, Imagineers were able to create more of a 3D effect with the grabbing monsters.

Both Roach and Turner have worked at lower-level jobs in Disneyland, so they were excited to work on Space Mountain. Roach, who lives in Rancho Santa Margarita, used to be a ride operator on Space Mountain itself, while Turner worked in food service.

Disneyland invited employees to ride Ghost Galaxy on Thursday, a day before the public is allowed in. Some employees gave the ride high marks.

“It was amazing,” said Tory Asher, 33, a manager for Adventureland attractions. “That’s definitely my favorite holiday offering we’ve ever had.”

Kelly Murphy, 26, also an Adventureland manager, said she was worried about the fright factor.

“I’m a little chicken,” Murphy said. “I think Disney does a good job of just the right level of scary.”

Secondly, Disney released some photos from a test performance Tuesday night of the new Halloween Screams fireworks show:

Pumpkins are projected onto Sleeping Beauty Castle

An inflatable Jack Skellington head

Jack’s “head” is also used to cast Oogie Boogie’s shadow

Spider webs on Sleeping Beauty Castle

Using the same system as Dumbo did in Magical, Zero takes flight during Halloween Screams

Stay tuned to Disneyland News Today for more coverage on both Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy and Halloween Screams.

Space Ghost at the Spooky Mountain!

WDWNT on September 25, 2009

According to D23:

While happy haunts have long greeted guests at Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, some new scary spooks are taking up temporary residence this Halloween season in Tomorrowland at one of the park’s signature attractions. Starting Friday, September 25, Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy will add a spine-tingling new layer to the already-thrilling ride.

The chilling seasonal event has been happening in Hong Kong Disneyland since 2007, when, show producer Steve Roach explains, “they had the idea that there’s a new life form that’s been discovered in space, and we want to recruit the guests to explore this new life force. Upon going into Space Mountain guests discover the ‘life forces’ are a little more than we thought.” Steve says the ride begins like your typical Space Mountain voyage, but — as these things do — something goes awry. “It’s a galaxy where haunted star clusters and supernovas threaten you at every turn. It’s one close call after another until you finally reach the end of your space flight — and we hope you make it home safely!” jokes Steve, who’s worked on numerous park projects including the Disneyland Dream Suite and the Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough.

During the evening, park-goers strolling through Tomorrowland will instantly notice a change in the attraction when every 6–8 minutes a ghostly new effect will take place. “While you are in the concourse queue outside, we are going to have events on the exterior of Space Mountain,” Steve reveals. “Some of these unknown life forces might be trying to escape the mountain.”

Guests who have traveled through Hong Kong’s Ghost Galaxy will recognize composer Ed Kalnin’s appropriately creepy score, and the audio has been completely remixed for the Disneyland version.

Visitors to Disneyland with an eagle eye may have already spotted one of Ghost Galaxy’s signature spooks (nicknamed “Bob”) on the Space Mountain refurbishment poster that’s been outside the attraction the past few weeks. Bob plays a more obvious role in the attraction’s new artwork.

The effects themselves are enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up at attention. Seventeen “encounters” await guests on this tumultuous trek. “The encounters start on your launch sequence and continue until you return,” Steve notes. The magic is achieved through startling projections. “In some cases we’re projecting onto the dome and in some cases onto screens.”

The encounters are set off by “triggers” that each rocket sets off as it passes by. Interesting for Disneyphiles is that while an elaborate lighting system was installed inside the attraction for Rockin’ Space Mountain back in 2006, Ghost Galaxy utilizes all new lights.

Steve, who is also working on the Disney Gallery and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, says Ghost Galaxy, which runs through Halloween, could return for another eerie engagement in the future. But it’s his link to the attraction’s past that really means the most to the Imagineer who’s been with Disney for more than 20 years. As with many Disney Cast Members, he started his career at Disneyland as a ride operator. “I was a lead at Space Mountain,” he remembers. “So to get to go back to one of my favorite attractions has been so much fun — an unbelievable experience.”

Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy, along with the rest of Halloween Time, opens tomorrow at the Disneyland Resort!

The Making of World of Color

WDWNT on September 24, 2009

We have yet another pair of videos for you from the D23 Expo recorded and edited by our own Matt Paul. The first video is “The Making of World of Color” presentation with Imagineer Steven Davison (walking us through the entire new nighttime spectacular for Disney’s California Adventure) and the accompanying video is of the World of Color press conference that directly followed. We hope you enjoy this inside look at Disney’s World of Color embedded via the WDWNTube: